Sunday, October 31, 2010

Compare/Contrast the algae island with Eden

When Pi was on the brink of death and needed food and water, he found an island made entirely out of algae. He was able to eat and drink as much as he needed and, with time, grew very strong. There were even meerkats living on the island to satisfy Richard Parkers hunger. Pi was content to stay on the island forever until he found what he thought was a fruit hanging from one of the algae trees. It turned out to be several leaves wrapped tightly around each other. When he un-wrapped all the leaves he found a tooth inside. He did this to another thirty-one "fruits" and they all contained teeth; there was a full human set of teeth. This lead him to discover that the island was carnivorous and became acidic at night. He quickly abandoned the island because he didn’t want to die there, alone, with no one knowing. The algae island is very similar to the Garden of Eden in a number of ways. Both are like heaven on earth to their inhabitants. Eden is devoid of any evil and Algae Island has everything that Pi needs to survive. In both cases the reason for the inhabitants leaving stems from a fruit. In Eden, Satan, disguised as a snake, persuades Eve to eat a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. When God finds out he expels Adam and Eve from Eden and forbids them from ever returning. In Life of Pi when Pi found the teeth wrapped in the leaves he discovered that the island could kill him. He decided that he did not want to die alone with no one knowing about it so he left the island. Both the island and Eden, despite appearing perfect, have one crucial flaw that indirectly causes the inhabitants to leave. On Algae Island it is that the island is carnivorous and becomes acidic at night and in Eden it is the presence of Satan.

No comments:

Post a Comment